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In the News

July 28, 2006

Profs Studying Emerging Fish Virus Make Headlines

U of G professors John Lumsden, Department of Pathobiology, and Rich Moccia, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, were featured in numerous newspaper, radio and TV reports this week regarding their efforts to determine what is killing fish in the Great Lakes basin.

Both professors were featured in a Globe and Mail article and in a story that appeared in Fish Farmer Magazine, which is published in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In addition, Moccia was interviewed by CBC North and CBC’s Ontario Today on Wednesday, and Lumsden was interviewed by CBC’s television news program, The National.

Lumsden was the first scientist to find the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) in Lake Ontario in the Spring of 2005. The deadly virus suspected in the deaths of thousands of fish in the Great Lakes basin.

Along with Prof. Roz Stevenson, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Lumsden is processing infected fish tissues and developing diagnostic tests for the emerging in collaboration. He and Moccia are also examining the impact to the fish farming industry and looking at implications to natural and farmed fish populations if the virus continues to spread.

Lumsden, Moccia and Stevenson were also involved in a workshop held at U of G Tuesday on how the virus might affect fish farmers and others in the Ontario aquaculture industry. It also included officials from Cornell’s Aquatic Animal Health Program, who have been analyzing the infected fish found in the United States.